It seems like 99 out of 100 boards go no where. What does it take to get a good sized user base? Is it all in the name? What did the people that were successful do that the many, many that were not, didnt?

Its not support. Its just discussion, he is not asking WHERE to advertize his board.

Yes, thank you. And I'm not about to post a link to my board here. I'm just talking. And yes I think my board will server a real purpose but its still a challenge to get it know to the people that could use it.

I think startfoxj is right, if a board has a purpose and is presented to the right group of people it will gain many new members simply by word of mouth. If you achieve that then you're set because word of mouth beats any other advertising technique.

My forum is part of my website. People find useful info on the website and often decide to visit the forum as well, to post questions of to have a discussion with people with the same interests.

Indeed, think about the purpose first. Also, a narrowly defined subject will perhaps attrackt less users, but those users will be more devoted and post more often than those that see your forum merely as one of the many places where they can chat.

I opened my board for one-time-only guests, but also made it possible to register and gave registered members access to an off-topic member-only forum, which makes them feel more special.

A couple of items needed to grow a community website/forum is to offer needed content and content should be the primary focus. What are you going to give members to read that they can't get elsewhere. What is making your site "special"

After you get your content up...spread the word about your site (no spam) Make sure you put a link in your sig. on all the forums you visit. Buy some banner space on related sites...if your site is dealing with a local issue/theme...contact the newspapers and local websites (they are starving for content for their own sites)

Then the wait game begins. Be polite to the people that start to join. Give them a reason to stay and to pass your info along to others.